Diis Manibus: Rules, Crunch, and Overview

[beejazz]

Welcome to rules and crunch in Diis Manibus. This thread exists for the sole purpose of displaying rules, crunch, and overview in my (revised) setting, Diis Manibus. To comment on the contents of this thread, see the Diis Manibus: Discussion thread. The contents of Diis Manibus is not limited to the nation formerly known as Arctivia.

[beejazz]

Hit Points: Hit points are replaced with the Vitality Points/Wound Points system in Unearthed Arcana. There are a few changes to be made.
1)There is no subdual damage. Any attack that would deal subdual damage now deals normal damage.
2)Death comes at 0 wound points. There is no escape by fortitude saves or any other means.
3)Wound point damage provokes a fortitude save (DC15 + damage). If a character fails, he becomes nauseated. If a character with zero vitality fails, he becomes unconscious.
4)While toughness and improved toughness exist, equivalent feats quickness and improved quickness also exist. These latter feats serve to improve vitality points. Improved quickness has the prerequisite "+2 Base Reflex Save".
5)Healing affects vitality and only vitality.

Armor Class: This setting uses the defense bonus variant listed in Unearthed Arcana. Note details below.
1)Your defense provides a dodge bonus to AC. Your armor provides an armor bonus to AC. These bonuses stack and behave in every way, shape, and form as normal dodge and armor bonuses. They do not overlap. Armor bonuses do not apply to touch attacks. Dodge bonuses do not apply to attacks against flat-footed opponents.

Armor: Armor provides DR and AC bonuses as described in Unearthed Arcana. There are two notable exceptions.
1)DR provided by armor can be overcome. Normal armor gives DR/magic. As armor gains enhancement bonuses, in addition to having a higher AC bonus, it also becomes harder to beat the DR. For example, a +1 suit of armor gives DR/+1.
2)Increase the DR of chain or mail by one and decrease its AC by one. Do the reverse for plate.

Weapons: Characters obtain weapon group feats. Feats like weapon focus and improved critical apply to weapon groups rather than individual weapons.
1)New classes gain proficiency with weapons depending on their base attack bonus. A class with a good base attack bonus is proficient with basic weapons plus any other three. A class with a mediocre base attack bonus is proficient with basic weapons plus any other two. A class with a poor base attack bonus is proficient with basic weapons plus any other one. The two exceptions are ninjas and samurai. Ninjas gain monk weapons in additiion to the other two. Samurai gain daisho (see below).
2)Samurai have a unique weapon group called daisho consisting of the katana (one-handed use) and the wakizashi. This is a unique weapon group exclusive to samurai.
3)Pistols and muskets are exotic weapons corresponding to the crossbows group. Gnome and dwarf weapon familiarities are replaced with a familiarity for pistols and muskets.
4)Rapid reload applies to crossbows as a whole. Pistols and muskets only take a move action to reload for someone who posesses this feat. Also, characters with the rapid reload feat may operate the reloading lever with one hand. It still takes two hands to load the five bolts.
5)Add blowgun to the list of monk weapons and kusari-gama to the list of exotic monk weapons.

Action Points: Action points can achieve the following.
1)Improve die rolls as described.
2)Speed up infusions as described.

Natural 1: Natural ones have disastrous effects depending on the attack.
1)Ranged weapons cease function (bowstrings break, guns jam, etc). DC5 craft check, standard action to fix.
2)Melee weapons provoke attacks of opportunity from the one you attacked.
3)Reach weapons provoke free disarm attempts from the one you attacked.
4)Thrown weapons (???)
5)Touch range spells fizzle out harmlessly.

[beejazz]

Now, races.

DWARVES
+2con, -2dex
Favored Class: Ranger

ELVES
+2dex, -2str
Weapon Groups (Light Blades, Bows)
Favored Class: Wu-Jen

GNOMES
Weapon Familiarity (Muskets, Pistols, Revolvers)
Favored Class: Artificer

HALF-ELVES
+2 listen, search, spot
Nix diplomacy and gather info bonuses
Weapon Group (Light Blades)

HALF-ORCS
+2 survival, intimidate
Nix darkvision
Low-light vision

HALFLING
Nix bonuses to hide, jump, move silently
Nix bonus on saves against fear
Nix bonus to attacks with slings and thrown weapons
+2 bonus to climb, swim, use rope
+2 morale bonus on saves against compulsion
+1 to attack rolls with Weapon Group (Flails and Chains)

NO DEEP DWARVES

DUERGAR
-4 dex, +2con
Darkvision to 60ft
Nix light sensitivity

DROW
Darkvision to 60ft
Weapon Groups (light blades, crossbows)
Nix light blindness
Favored Class: Warlock

NO GRAY, WILD, WOOD ELVES

GITHYANKI
Favored Class: Hexblade

GITHZERAI
Favored Class: Ninja

NO FOREST GNOMES

KOBOLDS
-4str, +2dex, -2int
Nix darkvision
Nix light sensitivity
Skill bonuses changed to jump, knowledge (religion), spot

ORCS
+2 survival, intimidate
Nix darkvision
Nix light sensitivity
Low-light vision

[beejazz]

Classes!

BARBARIAN
DR replaced with corresponding natural armor.

MONK
1st Bonus Feat: Add Weapon Group (Exotic) and Wild Talent
2nd Bonus Feat: Add Fiery Fists and Improved Toughness (Vitality)
6th Bonus Feat: Add Improved Feint and Ki Blast
Ki(Lawful) is changed to Ki(Cold Iron).
Wholeness of body heals vitality only.

PALADIN
*under construction*

ROGUE
Extra dice from sneak attack always vitality.

[beejazz]

Mundane weapons changes (aside from new weapons, weapon groupings... see above for those)

Daggers deal piercing damage ONLY.

Crossbows have no penalty to one-handed firing.

A hand crossbow is a light weapon.

A light crossbow is a one-handed weapon.

A heavy crossbow is a two-handed weapon.

A character with Rapid Reload may operate the reloading lever one-handed.

Pistols, muskets, and revolvers are exotic crossbows (just a reminder).

Pistols are one-handed.

Muskets are two-handed.

Whips deal damage regardless of armor bonus to AC but, as subdual damage weapons, do not overcome damage reduction and quickly become ineffective against armored opponents.

[beejazz]

Magic Weapons and Armor:

Extra Dice: As everywhere else, extra dice of damage do not carry over to wound points, but continue to apply to vitality points even on a critical hit. In any case, merciful weapons have got to go!

Fortification: Moderate fortification only protects 50% of the time. Heavy fortification functions 75% of the time.

[beejazz]

Deities:

The Demiurgical Pantheon: The demiurges are the first and last of the gods. Imprisoned in the heavens by their master for the sin of creation, they sleep until the End Times. The irony in this situation is that their imprisonment spared them death at Ragnarok.

Ptah- (Magic, Protection, Travel)
Ptah is recognized as being the first deity, father of the demiurgical pantheon, and the patron of astrology and navigation. He is a great black man imprisoned in a great red cloud in the sky, which is only visible at night. Ptah is also called the Seventh Manu, and is credited with the creation of humanity, despite the fact that humanity rose from the seas billions of years after Ptah's imprisonment.

Wasis-(Earth, Strength, Plant)
Wasis is the god of youth, fertility, fey, and the swamp. Wasis is a great yellow infant or fetus with neither eyes nor ears nor nose nor tongue. Like his brothers, Wasis is imprisoned in one of the four spheres, the prison-stars that roam the heavens. As the creator of the fey pantheon, the Wasis is also a god of elves and halflings.

Ymir- (Air, Death, Knowledge)
Ymir is the god of death, experience, old age, and cold mountaintops. He is a skeletal and bearded king and a father to all giants. As such he is also the god of dwarves and gnomes. Like Wasis, Ymir roams the heavens in his prison sphere, waiting for the Day.

Leto-(Fire, Sun, War)
Leto is a god of heat, war, and the desert. He is the father of the totemic pantheon and all its worshipers, from the gnolls to the kobolds to the minotaurs. Leto is a great black chitinous beast that resembles a scorpion from the waist down and a four-armed warrior from the waist up. He too is of the spheres.

Gorgon- (Water, Healing, Trickery)
Gorgon is a god of storms and of subtlety, a lord of the seas. Gorgon is the father of all the orcs and goblins and is depicted as having one hundred arms, one hundred eyes, and the head of a boar. Gorgon waits in his sphere to cover the earth again with water.

[beejazz]

GUNSLINGER

HD:d8 (I may limit class abilities to light armor and increase to d10. We'll see)

REQUIREMENTS
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Craft (weaponsmithing) 5 ranks, Concentration 3 ranks
Feats: Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot, Weapon Groups (crossbows, exotic)
Special: Characters with Weapon Group (crossbows) and weapon familiarity with muskets, pistols, and revolvers (such as gnomes) are considered to have Weapon Group (exotic) for the purpose of meeting the requirements of this class.

CLASS SKILLS
The gunslinger's class skills are Concentration (con), Craft (int), Intimidate (cha), and Profession (wis).
Skills Per Level: 2+int modifier

CLASS FEATURES
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Gunslingers gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Close Combat Shot (Ex): At 1st level, a gunslinger can attack with a ranged weapon while threatened and not provoke an attack of opportunity.
Ambidexterity (Ex): For a gunslinger of 2nd level or higher, attack penalties are lessened by 1 for fighting with two ranged weapons. At 4th level, the attack penalties are lessened by another 1.
Rapid Reload (Ex): At 3rd level, a gunslinger reduces his reload time for crossbows and exotic crossbows to a free action. The gunslinger may only reload any given crossbow or exotic crossbow once per round.
Hail of Bullets (Ex): At 5th level, a gunslinger fighting with a crossbow or exotic crossbow in either hand can applay the benefits of rapid shot, mutishot, or shot on the run to attacks with both weapons.

Saves: Good Reflex, Poor Will and Fortitude
Attack Bonus: as fighter

[beejazz]

In the interest of overview, and as a prelude to the Nompelle thread I am about to put up, as well as the corresponding villains soon to grace the secrets section, I'd like to give you a bit of vague overview concerning various nations, states, and regions in Diis Manibus.

The Northern Waste: The Siberia to Nompelle's Russia, the Northern Waste is a series of bleak frontier settlements, penal colonies, mines, and millitary complexes. Humans are troubled by native trolls, ogre mages, frost giants, and terrible beasts. Orcs also wander the Waste in an attempt to evade the rest of humanity's scorn, but are scorned by both giants and humans.

Nompelle: A magocratic, antireligious distopia riddled with crime, corruption, cults, and conspiracies; Arctivia is an urban industrial empire. They've got all the latest conveniences, including running water, a subway (in the capitol and leading to several satellite cities), and underground fungus cultures to feed the city (not much for flavor but all that most people can afford). Most of these conveniences are specific to the capitol with small mining and farming communities fairly typical outside of that.

Portsmouth: There are two ways to get from Nompelle to the Scarred Desert, and nobody wants to cross them mountains. Portsmouth exists on either side of the Churning Sea (roughly equivalent to our Mediterranean) and thrives on sea trade. One can find characters from all over the world here.

The Scarred Desert: A desert theocracy composed of a plethora of city states (sixteen humanoid tribes, plus the illegit tribes Aad, Thamoud, and Aryak), the Scarred Desert is home to the Spice (which will be covered under the "Craft Power Component" rules later). Nompelle conquered Aryak on the accusation that Aryak was harboring fugitives Ahmed, Hassain, and Ali. The Southern territories are being gobbled up by an enigmatic warlord calling himself "The Ninth Rajh".

Rhovinion: Separated from the Scarred Desert by the gnoll and kobold infested Igyt Mountains is Rhovinion, the classic DnD kingdom and home to the dwarves, goliaths, and goblins. The benevolent monarch is about to expire, passing his kingdom to his inept nephew.

The Plaguelands: They weren't always called the Plaguelands, but that's what everyone calls them now! Once the home to the peaceful ancestors of the orcs, the Plaguelands were invaded by the fiends, who have been there ever since under the jurisdiction of the Seven. The orcs were able to escape only by a powerful teleport that scattered them accross the globe. The refugees had no lands of their own and were rarely accepted into the homelands of others. Orcs have since been reduced to savages, squatters, and even terrorists, depending on their location and political situation. The fiends now hold power in the Plaguelands, and are officially recognized by the international diplomatic community, centered to the north in Rhovinion.

Ka'Arul: Homeland to the elves, shifters, raptorans, and lizardfolk. This jungle continent is in need of a little fleshing out. Any and all ideas are welcome.

Sudamir: Rural homeland of the halflings, currently opressed by mercantile organization remniscient of East India Trade Co. Also in need of a little fleshing out.